A vile PCSO and cub scout leader who sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy had an “absolutely catastrophic” effect on his victim, says the lead investigator.

Matthew Hopkins was jailed last week for five and a half years after he was unmasked as a pervert who had sexually assaulted a young boy, set up a covert camera to film boys going to the toilet and had thousands of sick child abuse images on his computers

The 31-year-old, from Ivybridge, was convicted of the indecent assault on the boy at one trial, and during a separate trial held in Truro last week was found guilty of three charges of possession of indecent images of children, four making indecent images of children counts, three voyeurism charges, as well as possessing prohibited images of children and possessing an extreme pornographic image.

The jury heard how the child abuse images found by police showed children as young as one or two being anally raped, engaging in sexual acts and having their genitalia exposed.

They also found an image showing a woman engaging in oral sex with a bear and a cartoon in which Lisa Simpson, a character from TV show The Simpsons, was engaging in sexual intercourse.

Matthew Hopkins (Image: Devon and Cornwall Police)

Officers were able to retrieve internet search terms and found searches for preteen boys and others clearly indicative of a sexual interest in children.

Following his sentencing, Senior Investigating Officer Det Insp Simon Costin, head of Torbay’s Public Protection Unit, told Plymouth Live how the bravery of the 12-year-old – now an adult – was the key to Hopkins finally getting his just desserts.

He said: “That sparked the investigation. As a result of carrying out the investigation into his allegations, it led us to the [other] evidence.

“[Hopkins] was arrested and a search conducted at his home and a number of items were seized which provided the evidence.”

Judge Simon Carr told Hopkins in a damning sentencing speech: “The victim will have trusted you and you breached the trust in the most appalling way.

“He simply froze because he could not comprehend what had happened to him and as many young victims do, he simply turned away when trying to process what had happened.

Matthew Hopkins, pictured in 2009, was a PCSO, and also a scout leader

“You then finished, left and acted as if nothing happened. As a result of the boy partially speaking out you moved to other means to satisfy your sexual urges.

“You clearly had some computer knowledge and between 2011 and 2017 you downloaded a very significant amount of child abuse images.

“The images showed the gang rape and rape of very young children, the youngest being just two when she was anally raped.”

At Truro Crown Court, Judge Carr noted how police had found Hopkins had installed peer to peer software so he could download the images without them showing on his browsing history. Hopkins then stored many of the images in carefully created files.

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Yet even when all the evidence had been presented to Hopkins as he sat in the police interview room, he claimed it was all a conspiracy against him

Det Insp Costin told Plymouth Live: “It’s fair to say he denied all the offences from day one.

“From his perspective, the contact offending, he completely denied it. It was a conspiracy against him.

“When we then re-interviewed him regarding the computer material, he continued to deny any involvement - no matter what we put to him, regardless of how obvious it was of his involvement.”

It was clear Hopkins hid his dark secret well from those around him, including from his colleagues in Devon and Cornwall Police.

Matt Hopkins as a PCSO at a Plymouth school in November 2009 (Image: Lucy Blake)

In November 2009 Hopkins was pictured in the Plymouth Herald attending schools in Stonehouse, highlighting a new scheme which encouraged children to collect "cop cards".

The initiative was similar to ones bring run in Brixham and Newton Abbot, where local officers featured on Top Trumps-style cards.

However, the Stonehouse cards featured crackdowns on drug dealers, policing equipment and how undercover officers worked. Children were told they could collect the cards by "asking a PCSO or PC patrolling the patch" and given the chance to win an iPod Touch if they collected all 12 cards.

Det Insp Costin praised the bravery of the victim who came forward to make the historical allegation against Hopkins, who by this time was a respected PCSO in Plymouth and cub scout leader in Ivybridge.

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As a result of their detailed and lengthy work, Det Insp Costin said he could reassure parents that no other children fell victim to Hopkins’ vile behaviour.

Investigators studied Hopkin’s modus operandi and determined that he would not have had the opportunity to carry out his abuse on more boys.

He said: “There’s no reason to suspect any wrongdoing within that environment or that he ever had opportunity to do this.”

The courage of Hopkin's victim resulted in justice - and protection of others

Det Insp Costin, who previously worked as a detective with the child sexual abuse team investigating paedophiles, said there was national evidence which showed how the mindset of such abusers saw them “work their way into employment where it allows access to young people”.

He said: “Hopkins went through the security process, like everybody would do, and got through. There were no concerns or reasons to suspect him.”

Of the sentencing, which saw Hopkins jailed for five and a half years, made subject of a 10 year sexual harm prevention order and ordered to sign onto the Sex Offenders’ Register for life, Det Insp Costin said he was “satisfied”.